When matters come to fisticuffs

It's tough sharing 99% of the same DNA with chimps and other higher primates. Try as we might to consider ourselves the pinnacle of creation/evolution, we're actually little removed from the brute beasts we keep behind bars at zoos. After millions of year we still engage in many of the same posturing, dominance and aggressive behaviors as our primate cousins. But like it or not that's a fact of life we sometimes have to come to grips with.

Take fighting. When was the last time you got involved in a physical altercation and what prompted it? This could be anything from kicking and pulling a sibling's hair, or a bar room brawl, or a junior high school yard scrap over some perceived slight. How do you respond when it appears a situation is elevating to the point where a fight may occur? Have you ever been the one who initiated a fight? Any memorable fights you've ever witnessed in public places?

People will miss that it once meant something to be Southern or Midwestern. It doesn't mean much now, except for the climate. The question, “Where are you from?” doesn't lead to anything odd or interesting. They live somewhere near a Gap store, and what else do you need to know? - Garrison Keillor

When I was in boot camp, I was known as the recruit who would have a hard time not smiling or bursting into laughter at the most inopportune time... and of course the entire platoon paid the price. All in all, it really wasn't that big of a deal because the rest of the recruits liked me and there were others who had problems much more significant than mine. But one evening our guide (who was about 2x my size) decided he had had enough so while we were on our "square away time" and I was sitting on the deck organizing stuff in my foot locker he came walking down the squad bay yelling at me about breaking bearing earlier in the day. As he was approaching I could see his fists clenched and it seemed obvious he was going to try to take a swing at me. Instinct took over and as I stood up I grabbed one of the wooden shelves out of my footlocker and swung at him first making pretty good contact on the side of his head. For some reason, he didn't appreciate that and swung at me anyway. Thankfully, he was probably a bit stunned and he only landed a glancing blow above one of my eyes. At that point a couple of the squad leaders jumped in to pull him back and the drill instructor arrived so the whole episode probably lasted 20 seconds.

The aftermath: I received 2 stitches in my eyebrow - my first and only stitches. The guide received 6 stitches, a slightly fractured cheekbone, some pretty nasty scratches, and a tetanus shot. Additionally, while the injury to his cheekbone wasn't enough to drop the guide to a medical platoon he did have to sit on the sidelines for a couple of weeks while we did any sort of physical training beyond running or light exercise. The best part? The DIs, squad leaders and other recruits lost all respect in him for picking on somebody well-liked and much smaller than him... and losing! His punishment was losing his position as guide. He had been guide the entire 2 months up until that point and we were closing in on graduation so this was quite a demotion since it meant the loss of a meritorious promotion a few weeks down the line. My squad leader got promoted to guide and I was actually made his replacement... However, my inability to drill and my tendency to laugh (which didn't change after all this) meant that I lasted as a squad leader for about 3 days.

I was always "the big kid" growing up, so other students tended to not mess with me. Up until high school, I was at least 8" taller than my peers and had a weight advantage to go along with it. I certainly benefitted from an early growth spurt in that regard. I was also well-liked and easily earned class-clown status, much to the delight of teachers. So obviously I wasn't an aggressive guy, but also wasn't relegated to a particular clique despite being a football player. I was friends with anyone--popular jock to awkward 'nerd.'

The thing is, I thought everyone should be that way and did not react well when I saw other students bullying smaller kids. A lot of that came from my older brothers, one of which was "the awkward smart kid" growing up. Usually just me telling someone to knock it off would put it to an end. One time in middle school it didn't. I saw one of the popular jock kids from the football team pushing around & bullying one of the smaller, more awkward kids. Like usual, I stepped in and told him to stop. Well this guy got a wild hair and decided that he could take me. He landed the first hit, which I basically allowed so I could easily claim defense. He didn't touch me again as I landed the next half dozen punches squarely to his face, bloodying him damn good and then sending him head-first into a locker. I got a 3-day in-school suspension because the principal "had to give me something" while the other kid earned himself a 1-week suspension and got kicked-off the football team.

First & only physical fight I've ever been in. I've gotten up in people's faces since then (but not since college), but it has never escalated.

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

I got in my fair share of fisticuffs when my friends and I would frequent the bars in Sarnia, Ontario from 16-19 years of age. Most of them involved group-fights after the bar. Some of my friends were real brawlers, so they did most of the damage. I was more a middle of the road guy, a few shoves here, a few punches there. I haven't had a physical altercation since then.

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"

Last Nov. my brothers and I were at a restaurant. As we were leaving and in the parking lot we heard alot of noise, turned the corner and there was a guy sitting on top of another just beating the crap out of his face. One of my brothers yelled to knock it off and the guy jumped up like he was going to take my brother on until he saw my other brother and me show up and he backed off. The guy on the ground was messed up. Cops came, took a report and we left. Just another drunk fight over a girl.

Personally, had a guy shove me in a bar a few years ago trying to start something. The bouncer got ther very quickly, made the other guy leave and me to promise to go sit down with our group and finish our beers - which we did. That was my last (of very few) encounter.

"Whatever beer I'm drinking, is better than the one I'm not." DMLW
"Budweiser sells a product they reflectively insist on calling beer." John Oliver

Personally, had a guy shove me in a bar a few years ago trying to start something.

Had that happen to me once in college. Once the guy realized that the three extremely large guys behind me (Former U of M Football players) were with me, he decided to leave abruptly.

Last fight was in 8th grade in the locker room with a teammate after a basketball game. Didn't last long, we each got in a punch to each others face and decided it was over. Team mates said I got in the better punch for whatever that was worth. I was/am on the small side but was the funny bright kid with a enough jock ability to hang with most of the groups. I always seemed to have at least one very large friend both in high school and college. That came in handy when my sense of humor wasn't appreciated or my sarcasm got ahead of common sense.

“Death comes when memories of the past exceed the vision for the future.”

My one and only real fight (save for heated pushing and confrontations on the soccer field) was in 3rd grade. I “called out” this kid after an altercation on the kickball field. We met in my front yard after school and I hit him once and then kicked him while he was down (classy!) He ran home crying. I called and apologized some time later and we have been best friends ever since (and he could probably beat the piss out of me now). Otherwise, I am essentially a pacifist. Which isn’t to say I don’t get awfully mad sometimes.

During my freshman year of college I was at a small school in upstate NY and the guys that lived on my dorm floor loved to start trouble at the bars. I'm not a violent person so I tended to avoid these guys, but on a few occasions I found myself involved in some skirmishes which they would inevitably provoke after downing too many pitchers of cheap beer. Nobody ever really got hurt, it was usually just posturing and isht-talking. What I find odd about looking back on it is that it seemed like bar fights were just seen as part of the experience of "going out", with the underage patrons and bar staff just expecting them to happen at some point. There were never any consequences other than getting kicked out by the bouncer, and the police never came.

The other crazy thing is that the town in question had so many underage-friendly bars where one could literally "chalk" an ID using a white pencil to make it appear that the year of birth was '73 instead of '78 on a NYS Iicense. This was back in the mid-90s so you had college freshman passing for 25/26 years old or so. Often the same ID was passed back outside and used by a number of kids over the course of a night.The cops had to know about all these places but I guess they just chose just to ignore them. Upstate NY is a weird place.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
C'mon and get me you twist of fate
I'm standing right here Mr. Destiny
If you want to talk well then I'll relate
If you don't so what cause you don't scare me

I was in a blind pig downtown when a fight started near me. I had nothing to do with it though it was drawn along ethnic lines. Unfortunately a few saw me as a threat due to my height and mass even though I was just a bystander and a couple held me down while another guy pummeled me.

Other than a few scraps with my brother, that was the extent of my fighting. Ironically that was my last of going to blind pigs as well!!

If you don't know what a blind pig is, good for you! They are called blind pigs because the cops (pigs) are oblivious to them. They often serve booze after hours and have gambling.

I haven't gotten in a real fight since probably 6th grade, but did punch my best friend in the face a couple times once in high school. I don't even remember what it was about, but we didn't speak for a couple days until I called and apologized and asked him if he wanted to hang out again. It was as though nothing had happened.

I came close to fighting a guy in a bar only a few years ago, however. He was EXTREMELY piss-faced drunk and just sat down next to my wife (at the time) and hitting on her. I stood up and kindly asked him to leave. He wouldn't. I told him if he didn't leave immediately I was going to take him to the ground right there at the bar (mind you I was over 200lbs at the time, all muscle, and built like an NFL linebacker). I think his friends finally realized what was going on and convinced him to back away lest he go home bloody and battered.

Haven't heard from any females yet but remember the occasional girl fight in school? They didn't happen near as often, but in their own way they were more barbaric than most guy fights. With guys you sometimes end up having to fight on principle and one or both combatants hearts may not be 100% into it and certain unwritten 'rules of engagement' were frequently observed. But it was always raw rage that fueled chick fights. They were out to HURT the other party by any means available. Anyone who has ever witnessed one will know what I'm talking about..

People will miss that it once meant something to be Southern or Midwestern. It doesn't mean much now, except for the climate. The question, “Where are you from?” doesn't lead to anything odd or interesting. They live somewhere near a Gap store, and what else do you need to know? - Garrison Keillor

The only altercation that I was involved with was with a guy in high school. He had called me a choice 4 letter word and I said something in return. He grabbed my left wrist and started twisting it so I decked him. Caught him in the nose which started to bleed. He got expelled and I got suspended for 2 days with my mom's blessing for defending myself.

Other than that, nothing.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"Jeremiah 22:16

Never was much for doing stupid things in stupid places with stupid people, so haven't been in any real scuffles since elementary school. It is usually a choice you make to be there.

I did get my share of official violence and occasional fisticuffs playing hockey, including one memorable brouhaha with both teams and the crowd involved when trying to get into the locker rooms after a heated game.

My older, and much larger, sister beat me up fairly regularly starting when we were toddlers. I never really could defend myself. I finally got my own room in 6th grade because by then she would pummel me in the middle of the night. I think the last time she slugged me was Christmas Day when I was 19.

My last fight was in high school. A former friend kept talking smack about me to others. I confronted him. We argued a bit then I dunno why but I decided to pop him one.

He just came unglued. Started swinging at me sissy style. Just battering me with ineffective punches to my head and shoulders. I kept backing up while I laid in a few good punches. By the time some parent broke up the fight, he was crying and bleeding from the nose and lip. I was embarrassed, really, for fighting such a pussy.

I had a pretty short temper as a child and adolescent. Living in New Orleans, it was just the way it was. You got in fights. When I started midyear in middle school at this Catholic school in a small town, I didn't know these kids taunted but didn't fight. They got a rude awakening that I met taunts with fisticuffs. Got in three fights the second week I was there. My principal - a nun - saw a lot of me that first month. Finally she had a talk with the guys in my class and told them to lay off because I wasn't backing down and they were getting the worse of it.

Of course a year later this really big guy egged me into a fight. I didn't back down. He kept pushing me down to the asphalt. I kept getting up. About the third time I came up off that pavement, I was pretty glad that a teacher broke us up. We became friends of a sort later.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

My last fight was in high school. A former friend kept talking smack about me to others. I confronted him. We argued a bit then I dunno why but I decided to pop him one.

He just came unglued. Started swinging at me sissy style. Just battering me with ineffective punches to my head and shoulders. I kept backing up while I laid in a few good punches. By the time some parent broke up the fight, he was crying and bleeding from the nose and lip. I was embarrassed, really, for fighting such a pussy.

I had a pretty short temper as a child and adolescent. Living in New Orleans, it was just the way it was. You got in fights. When I started midyear in middle school at this Catholic school in a small town, I didn't know these kids taunted but didn't fight. They got a rude awakening that I met taunts with fisticuffs. Got in three fights the second week I was there. My principal - a nun - saw a lot of me that first month. Finally she had a talk with the guys in my class and told them to lay off because I wasn't backing down and they were getting the worse of it.

Of course a year later this really big guy egged me into a fight. I didn't back down. He kept pushing me down to the asphalt. I kept getting up. About the third time I came up off that pavement, I was pretty glad that a teacher broke us up. We became friends of a sort later.

Fights in hockey are one thing, fights off the ice are another. I have been in both but regret the off the ice incidents.

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. Time makes more converts than reason." - Thomas Paine Common Sense.

Not to mention perceived crap about anything from the town... to the state... to the south in general.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
C'mon and get me you twist of fate
I'm standing right here Mr. Destiny
If you want to talk well then I'll relate
If you don't so what cause you don't scare me